Waterford’s Ava Hurley (20) applies the press on Southern’s Kiersten Rose during Thursday’s game in Waterford. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WATERFORD — With all the peaks and valleys which have followed a young Waterford girls basketball team throughout the 2025-26 season, the Wildcats have managed to remain in the thick of things for a conference title.

On a day when both schools were closed due to inclement weather, Waterford pulled out a 35-31 win over a Southern outfit still seeking its first league victory.

With Eastern’s win over Federal Hocking on Thursday, Waterford shares second place with the Lancers at 5-2 in the Tri-Valley Conference’s Hocking Division. The Wildcats improved to 8-8 overall, while Southern falls to 5-10 and 0-6 in the TVC. Eastern sits alone in first place by one-half game at 6-2.

“I keep telling the girls they control their own destiny,” Waterford coach Jerry Close said.

Southern gave Waterford a false sense of security after turning the ball over on its first possessions of the game, which allowed the Wildcats to go in front 4-0.

Waterford’s Brynnlee Pottmeyer (12) drives to the basket off the fastbreak during Thursday’s game against Southern in Waterford. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Southern answered by hitting four of its next six shots as part of a 9-0 run which signaled that Waterford had a battle on its hands for a full 32 minutes.

Brynnlee Pottmeyer was the prototypical point guard after dishing out five assists on Waterford’s first six made buckets in the first half. Her fifth and final assist of the game found Ava Hurley flashing to the basket to spark an 8-0 run which gave the Wildcats an 18-11 lead with one minute remaining in the first half.

Waterford freshman Shaeli Hayes knocked down a three and scored the final six points leading into halftime with the Wildcats enjoying an 18-12 advantage.

With Hayes and Pottmeyer experiencing issues with foul trouble in the second half, Hurley picked up the slack after scoring the team’s first six points of the second half and contributing an assist which extended the difference to eight at 25-17.

A pair of buckets from Neveah Camp combined with two free throws from Jaylynn Hupp brought Southern within 25-23. Between the latter stages of the third quarter and the early moments of the fourth period, the Tornadoes had four opportunities to either tie or take the lead.

Waterford’s Shaeli Hayes (34) receives handshakes from her teammates after a made free throw during Thursday’s game against Southern in Waterford. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

The only production the Tornadoes had to show for its cause was a free throw from Kiersten Rose which left the deficit at 25-24 at the end of three quarters.

Despite struggling from the line for three and a half quarters, Waterford actually salted the game away by knocking down 7-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final 4 ½ minutes.

Waterford, however, never did get Southern off its coattails. Rose’s breakaway layup sliced the Wildcat lead to 34-31 with 49 seconds remaining. On the inbounds and nearing a 10-second call, coach Close hollered for a timeout nine seconds with the ball still not reaching the mid-court line.

On the reset, Elsie Malec made one of two free throws at 13.1 seconds then intercepted a downcourt pass on Southern’s final possession.

Hayes, who led all scorers with 13 points, made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch. Hurley added 10 points. When the offense is running on all cylinders, the high-low from Waterford’s guards to Hayes is tough to defend.

Waterford’s Kayla Schwendeman (14) zeroes in on Southern ballhandler Neveah Camp (2) during Thursday’s game in Waterford. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“Shaeli has a lot of growing to do, and we have a lot of work to do to make sure we are getting her the ball more,” Close said. “She has to do her part, too. She is going to be a really good player and we are excited for her future.”

Sydney Stout connected for the only two Southern 3-pointers and finished with a team-high nine points. Camp and Rose each pitched in eight points.

Waterford’s full-court press was successful off the inbounds and created 21 turnovers. However, when Southern brought the ball into the frontcourt, Close stated his girls were just a step slow getting transitioning into a defensive set.

“We were one step slow, usually on the backside rotation,” Close said. “There were a lot of things we did well with our pressure-wise up front, but then we let it go on the back end. We just have to get some things cleaned up.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs this season, but this is a young team with different roles. We just need some consistency. That will be the focus moving forward.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com